PARENT SESSION

EFFECTS OF TOPOGRAPHY ON MOVEMENTS OF NORTH AMERICAN ELK. John G. Kie^1,2, Alan A. Ager¹ and R. T. Bowyer^2,3. ¹ United States Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, 1401 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, Oregon, USA; ² Institute of Arctic Biology, Department of Biology and Wildlife, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA; ³ Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho, USA.

ABSTRACT- We examined movements of North American elk (Cervus elaphus) on the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range in northeastern Oregon, USA. In previous work, movement vectors at 449 locations over a 7,762 ha area were calculated based on 16,724 sequential observations of 94 female elk-year combinations during spring (15 April to 14 May) 1993, 1995, 1996. We calculated movement vectors at the start of morning and evening feeding bouts (0500, 1900 hrs) and during periods of least activity (0100, 1500 hrs). Here, we measured topographic features around each vector including distance to nearest stream, direction of drainage, elevation, slope, and convexity (a measure of ridge top versus valley bottom land form). We used mixed models adjusted for positive spatial correlation among vectors to examine the relationship between direction and topographic features. The direction of movement was dependent on topography. Elk were more likely to move parallel to major drainages than perpendicular to them. Furthermore, elk were less likely to move perpendicular to drainages when close to the nearest stream, in valley bottoms, and on steep slopes.

KEY WORDS: movements, Cervus elaphus, North American elk, topography